Distillation is the foundational separation process in petroleum refining. It divides crude oil into fractions based on boiling point, creating the feedstock required for all downstream conversion and finishing units. Before distillation, crude oil must be conditioned through desalting to remove corrosive salts, solids, and metals that would otherwise damage equipment and poison catalysts.

This module covers desalting, atmospheric distillation, vacuum distillation, pump around systems, and the laboratory distillation methods used to characterize crude oils and monitor unit performance.